Naoise Dolan

There is nothing “exciting” about “Exciting Times,” by Naoise Dolan, other than the title. This is one of the most boring books I have ever read, and I read a ton of books every year. The story line is a good one, but never lived up to that potential. The book is heavy on narrative, thus it reads like Dolan is telling the reader a story instead of showing it to us. I wanted to see the action, not simply be told what happened. More dialogue and character development would have show more helped.

The book was extremely slow to get going. I almost ditched it early on. Finally, the last few chapters picked up, but too late for most readers. There were times I did not even want to pick the book up and continue reading.

None of the characters were likeable. Ava is an immature young lady incapable of making even the simplest decision. She does not know if she is in love or not. She does not know what she wants for dinner. She is like a dead fish, floating downstream in the river of life. She makes the lives of those around her as miserable as she is. She is an enabler who allows others to use and abuse her.

Julian is a total jerk. He uses Ava, and she lets him do so. I could not stand him at all.

The characters lacked decent development. Julian barely speaks, so we never know what he is really thinking. Therefore, it is impossible for the reader to get to know him. Ava is so indecisive the reader never knows her well either.

The story as a whole lacked conflict. If there is no conflict, then the reader does not care either. The only potential conflict was when Edith met Julian and that went so well, it was not believable.

I was most disappointed by the ending (or lack of one). I realize every book does not end on a happy ever after note, but this one has no conclusion. I would have liked some closure at least. Maybe the author left it vague hoping for a sequel.

I’m just glad the book wasn’t 100 pages longer as it would have wasted even more of my time reading it. show less

Whether or not you'll like Naoise Dolan's debut novel depends largely on what you think about Sally Rooney's novels. It's not that they are both young Irish women, but that they are writing about self-contained young women who have trouble looking outside of themselves or viewing people as independent creatures and they think primarily about their sexual and romantic relationships. I liked one of Rooney's novels and not the other. I found Exciting Times to be ok.

Ava is Irish and working as show more an English-language (TEFL) teacher in Hong Kong, teaching grammar to schoolchildren. She meets an English banker and while their relationship is decidedly not romantic, he invites her to move into his spare bedroom. He's detached and unemotional and busy, so a relationship based on convenience works for him. It works for Ava since housing in Hong Kong is expensive and Julian is an easy roommate, although she thinks endlessly about their relationship and its parameters. She's not in love, but she wouldn't mind if Julian were, as long as he still gave her her space. And she misses him when he's on business trips. It's while he's on a long business trip that she meets Edith and falls for her. What follows is a simple love story complicated by Ava's endless analysis of her feelings, Edith's feelings and endless deconstructions of their every interaction.

The parts of this novel where Ava emerges from self-reflection to ponder the differences between British and Irish English or when she notices that the kids she's teaching are individuals and interesting are wonderful. The endless navel gazing got old for me, but not so old that I wanted to stop reading. I would have loved to have seen what happens were Ava to stop watching herself and began participating in her own life, but that's not the book Dolan wrote. show less

Hilarity and pathos ensue when an engaged Irish couple, Celine and Luke, each previously involved in gay relationships, struggle with their attraction to each other and with their decision to get married. Celine, an accomplished pianist, hears concert pieces in her head, but Luke's lying leaves her brain blank. Luke may still be in love with Archie, his former suitemate at Oxford, who has been designated as best man. The peripheral characters - aunts, uncles, former lovers, and rivals - do show more their best to either put up barricades or to provide non-objective guidelines for the big decision. The novel reminds me of Laurie Colwin's beloved 1978 novel Happy All The Time, with a sweet-and-sour chaser of Nancy Mitford’s delightful battles of the sexes. It’s a pure delight to devour in one sitting or to stretch out for pleasure and guffaws.

Quotes: "They did not, as a rule, "share feelings". To see the tint of your internal mood ring as warranting disclosure, and to expect a rapt audience - no, no. Have you met Irish people?"

"The lie is that women are good at feelings. The truth is that they're good spectators of other people's, and good coaches and good referees. They can advise from the sidelines. But if you drag them out to play, don't be expecting miracles."

"She's not interested in me; she's interested in her own analytical pyrotechnics that my presence happens to prompt."

"You know when you're a kid and you think the objectively best paintings are the ones that look real?"

"Grellan had his principles, though it was true that he invented many of them on the spot." show less

The Happy Couple is an intriguing read about people not acting at their best, but realistically. It’s about situations and relationship that don’t make sense, but the characters do them anyway. It’s messy and addictive. I couldn’t get enough of this book!

The story is centred around Luke and Celine. They’ve been together for awhile so it’s probably time to get married. They are very different – Celine’s head is usually thinking about music and Luke has cheated on her with most show more of her friends. But Celine says yes, and preparations for the wedding start. This brings exes into their sphere and starts planting seeds of doubt once the engagement party takes place. Chapters are told from Celine and Luke’s point of view, then move to those of the wedding party. Phoebe is Celine’s little sister who is less successful but misses nothing. Archie, Luke’s best friend (and ex) still wants Luke and can’t move on. Vivian, another one of Luke’s exes, helps to put things in perspective. And Celine’s ex Maria also reappears to add her perspective. Meanwhile, both Celine and Luke (and some of the others) are working out what marriage means to them, if anything. In the midst of this are their Irish families with their own takes on marriage, some tainted by bitter experience.

There will definitely be comparisons to Sally Rooney’s novels here. For the record, I found Dolan’s writing much less overwrought with emotion and the characters more interesting. Not everything is revealed at once about the characters. During the novel, I found myself disliking some of them initially but as their motivations and the reasons for their actions were revealed, I grew to like them more. Dolan doesn’t need flowery prose; she cuts to the heart of the matter with relatively few words. The dialogue is sharp and there is quite a bit of dry humour, which I appreciated. But it never felt like she was poking her at her characters, rather just exposing the peculiarities of various situations. I enjoyed the messiness of it all – it’s not at train wreck levels but more relatable. Dolan also casts a modern lens on the institution of marriage and where is fits in the modern world, including sexuality, monogamy and financial.

I absolutely gulped down this novel. I think it would make a good TV series as each character is quite unique (and those who aren’t, get minimum page time). It’s exciting to see what the characters do next, with a relatively unexpected twist.

Thank you to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

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